Ezek — Capítulo 2

2:1-10 Being a prophet was neither a career choice nor an occupation passed down from father to son like the priesthood. God called prophets to their task, and the story of their call is often included in their writings (see, e.g., Isa 6; Jer 1:4-19; Jon 1:1-2). 2:1-2 Stand up: God empowered Ezekiel by the Spirit so that he was able to obey this command as God set him on his feet. What God would later do for the people as a whole (cp. 37:4-10), he did first for the prophet.

2:3 The Lord addressed Ezekiel regularly as son of man (Hebrew ben-’adam, “son of Adam”). This phrase reminded Ezekiel that he was profoundly different from the heavenly beings before whom he stood. In contrast to them, he was a child of the dust, a mere mortal. It also marked him out from the nation of Israel (literally the sons of Israel). They were a rebellious nation, true descendants of Jacob, whose defining characteristic was striving with God and man (Gen 32:28). As a son of Adam, Ezekiel represented a new community of faith, empowered by the Spirit to form a life of radical obedience. He was a sign of hope to the exiles. Jesus is the ultimate son of man who combines in himself the human aspect of the title with the exalted heavenly aspect (Dan 7:13-14; Rev 1:13-20). By obeying where Adam failed, Jesus became the first member of God’s new community of faith. All other children of Adam find hope in him.

2:4-5 Israel was stubborn and hard-hearted—they would not heed Ezekiel, whose message would bear little immediate fruit. However, they would know that they had a prophet among them who was speaking God’s word.

2:6 Ezekiel’s ministry would be as painful as traversing a thicket of nettles and briers and stinging scorpions.

2:7 Ezekiel would not be accountable for the people’s response to the message, only for his own faithful delivery of God’s word.

2:8 Ezekiel must not resemble the disobedient and rebellious people around him. The first Adam disobeyed God’s command not to eat the apparently desirable fruit of knowledge (Gen 2:17); Ezekiel was to obey by eating the apparently undesirable words of God.

2:9–3:1 There was so much judgment on the scroll that both sides were covered with writing. Ezekiel had to declare the curses for covenant breaking (Deut 28:15-68) to a rebellious people (cp. Zech 5:2-4). The scroll covered with messages of judgment is an apt image of the content of Ezek 1–24.